Protecting college athletes starts with transparency
March Madness is one of the busiest betting periods of the year. Millions of fans engage with the tournament through brackets and online betting. (Getty Images) As the college basketball world once again turns its attention to Indianapolis for the NCAA Men’s Final Four, Indiana regulators are weighing a proposal that could unintentionally weaken one of the most effective safeguards protecting athletes and the integrity of college and professional sports.
The proposal would prohibit legal sportsbooks from offering certain proposition bets involving college athletes. Protecting student athletes is a goal everyone shares. But eliminating regulated betting options risks pushing wagering activity back into the shadows of the illegal market, where suspicious behavior is far harder to detect, and athletes may be more vulnerable to harassment and manipulation.
March Madness is one of the busiest betting periods of the year. Millions of fans engage with the tournament through brackets and online betting. The last time Indianapolis hosted a Final Four with fans in attendance in 2015, legal sports betting didn’t exist in Indiana.
Today, fans can place wagers in a safe and regulated marketplace designed to protect consumers, athletes, and the integrity of the games. Too often, all sports betting gets treated the same. But there is a critical difference between licensed sportsbooks operating under state oversight and illegal offshore betting markets.
Indiana recognized that difference when it legalized sports betting in 2019. The goal was simple: bring betting activity into a transparent system where it could be monitored, consumers would be protected, and bad actors would be held accountable. That system is working Legal sportsbooks now serve as one of the earliest warning systems when something in the betting market doesn’t look right.
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